Many musicians recall their past interactions with the late Michael Jackson fondly. But some almost never took place.
In an interview with Boardroom’s “On Record” video series, Wyclef Jean spoke about The Fugees’ 1996 album The Score.
30 years ago, The Score was released to much acclaim and success. The album spawned hits like “Fu-Gee-La,” “Ready or Not,” and “Killing Me Softly,” and put rappers and singers Pras, Lauryn Hill, and Jean on the map. So much so, the album caught the attention of Jackson. A year later, Jean released his solo album The Carnival, which spawned the hit “Gone Till November.”
Upon the song’s release, Jean received a call from Jackson, who wanted to give him his flowers personally. Jean, however, almost didn’t believe it.
“Michael did call me,” Jean recalled. “ Michael Jackson hit me and he was in Asia, but I hung up the phone because me and my cousin, that pranking sh*t, we really about this shit before the MTV and all that…when I realized it was Michael, bro, I lost all my bass in my voice.”
Evidently, Jean eventually called him back, and Jackson sang his praises to him directly.
“He was like, ‘Yo, I'm in Asia and this song came on and you were at the airport and the violins came out. This is the most amazing thing. When I get back to New York, we work,’” Jean said. “And I was so excited about meeting Michael Jackson.”
The two did, in fact, collaborate on Jackson’s 1997 remix album Blood on the Dancefloor — a companion to his 1995 album HIStory. Jean is credited as a producer on "2 Bad" (Refugee Camp Mix),” which features the late John Forte. Forte was also a frequent collaborator of The Fugees and produced much of The Score album.
